Posted Tuesday 29 April 2008

Yearning has Faded

San Francisco, Spring 1982: In the house on Tenth Avenue that I shared with Quinlan the photographer, I had a dream one night, that I saw Carolyn my high-school sweetheart. I'd like to say she came to me and that she cared for me, but she just passed nearby with a glance. And I was filled to overflowing with yearning. I awoke, and the dream left me with the yearning, as if it had been yesterday.

Last night, I had another dream ...

As I crossed the street in front of the English building, in a very large convertible across the street, parked in front of Voertman's Bookstore, the Beatles sat, with three other musicians in tuxedos whom they had added for the concert. The new musicians had orchestra instruments, but they were singing along with the Beatles, a complex, multipart harmony. It was quite lovely

By the time I'd crossed the street, the car had become a bus. No wonder as there were so many of them in the vehicle, and as the bus door was open, I climbed in and sat in the first seat. Paul waved. And then I realized that the driver, in uniform, was actually Arnold Schwartznegger, the governor of California. Apparently he was showing the Beatles around. Politics, I guess.

"Hello, Arnold," I said, as I struggled to take off my hat, but the hat's chin cord was caught and I had to fight with it, and then realized Arnold was scowling at me. Maybe I'd been too familiar. "I mean, hello, Mr. Schwartzenegger," I said, "Is that better?"

His expression told me it was better. Apparently, despite his behavior when he was Conan the Barbarian, Arnold is a guy who really appreciates proper manners.

And then as I mused on this, I found myself sitting at a table in a small cafe, almost deserted. A cup of coffee sat cooling, I had the funny papers from the newspaper, and the late-afternoon light slanted in through the window across the room. I glanced up to see that the next table, the Beatles and everybody, who had been sitting there, were all gone.

The light from the window was dim, it was hard to see clearly, and the comics were not really interesting.